#Note 3 Neo

[mewcharm]

okay man

[coolcoolcoolbutwtf]

Stayed up late drawing organic metal.

(( _ _ ))..zzzZZ I'm tired *cries in sleep deprived*

[opal-owl-flight]

Thinking of Agent 4 and how she lost faith in herself.

more deets under the cut!

I saw a comment somewhere that this bitch is very diligent in college so what if after Octo Valley she went back to her normal life. And as such became just another face in the crowd

I feel like as the workload got heavier and heavier, that confidence started to wane. Damn was she brilliant at first but now shes flailing

She takes a break, and decides to come visit base. See some old friends.

Theyve already moved on. Apparently not needed anymore, turns out.

The spankin new Agent 3 is leagues more capable of things than she is. This goblin fought a giant bear??? In space??? Beat the octo king like its nothing?? (She likely didnt have the context of Octavio not having Zapfish power.)

"Huh? Agent 4? Whos that? The one thats supposed to be a big-shot?"

She had the potential to be great, but she wasnt up to par with expectations. Thats all she was. *Potential.* Cant match up to any of the greats -- she isnt even gonna try to compare herself to the legendary Captain, or the scrappy Eight.

Damn. The least remarkable of the platoon. No wonder everyone left her behind.

Tldr.....uh..... 4 decided to pursue a degree and in the process drifted away from the platoon. After struggling in college she decides to go back to them for a bit

Shes already carrying that disappointment for herself from her academic struggles, seeing these new agents (+ promoted Cap3) made that impostor syndrome worse, I think

She *was* great, but I suppose she herself forgot. And with how easy she won the fight everyone thought that maybe that mission wasnt so hard after all.

As the years went by, everyone including herself thought that that mission was just a cakewalk. (EDIT: or at least, thats what she thought everyone was thinking. Isolation and high stress will do that to you!)

Its like.... this activity was indeed hard but it looked so easy when they did it. And then everyone expects them to keep growing. Young genius becoming an einstein

at least, Marina saw that shes worth having around as security in Memverse...even if Pearl doesnt think that shes good enough. (Shes judging her from the way she presented herself. With such low confidence, how can you be good at anything???)

And what if the reason she was so easily dragged under enough for both a palette to be made from her soul, AND create Intensifying Harmony, is bc she agreed with Order on certain aspects

"I will make you perfect. Just like before. And you will stay perfect forever."

"Go on, then. Please. Save me."

[blueberry-ink-93]

epilogue

“hey what kind of shampoo do you use?” telemachus looked up from his hastily scribbled shopping list to find a blank faced neoptolemus.

“wuh?” was it really neoptolemus’ fault telemachus asked stupid questions at stupid times.

telemachus rolled his eyes exasperatedly. what was so difficult about his question?

“i said what kind of shit do use for your hair” he gave him a somehow blanker look “im going shopping dumbass.” he waved his tiny inelligable handwritten note for emphasis. neoptolemus only frowned. “i don’t know”.

telemachus would be lying if he said he wasn’t starting to get bored with whatever game neo was playing. he had stuff to do and wasn’t at all in the mood to wait for his royal highness to return from whatever space dimension he was currently in and enlighten him with his products of choice.

“what do you mean you don’t know?” now it was neoptolemus’ turn to be irritated. he was still in his pyjamas, hair a knotted mess, under-eye circles ever prominent, and frown deeply set. he hunched further into himself under telemachus’ scrutinising gaze. it was too early for this. for what exactly? hell if he knew. all neo wanted was to spend the rest of his miserable existence under the covers. why he even got up today was beyond him.

telemachus picked up the shift almost instantly. eyes narrowing and breath held. something wasn’t right. was he hiding something? his stomach dropped. no. they had been over this. no more secrets. no more hurting all alone. was this one of those things that were second nature to him but completely alien to neo? self loathing and guilt bubbled inside him. fuck.

he shuffled ruefully over to where neo was perched on the breakfast bar chair, a knee to his chest and chin in his knee, both arms folded limply around his ankle. how he managed to sit like that on so tiny a seat was frankly a mystery to telemachus. but then again neo was full of surprises he thought drily to himself.

“neo” he said it so softly he almost didn’t even hear himself. neoptolemus stilled. tele ventured to hover a hand where his cheek bone and ear met. neos breathing ceased completely and telemachus followed. waiting for a reply to his unasked question.

letting out a sigh so deep tele thought neo was shrinking before his eyes, he finally got his answer. “i use whatevers in the bathroom.” teles eyebrows reacted faster than the rest of his face, shooting up to his hairline before his tongue found itself.

“but it doesn’t suit your hair type!” he sounded so surprised neo mused. why on earth would he be surprised. did it look like he cared about these trivial matters? hed use dish soap if he could. he did actually that one time and tele had to physically tackle him to snatch the bottle away. a corner of his mouth twitched upwards at the memory. he was banned from the kitchen for a week after that.

still reeling from the potential accidental crossing of boundries and reopening of an old wound (and by extension losing some of their hard earned progress), the cogs in telemachus’s brain whirred faster than they usually did, thinking studying contemplating. praying, repenting, apologising.

“would you mind if I washed your hair? for you I mean”. neoptlemus’ brow furrowed deeper than telemachus thought possible. well now you’ve gone and done it. we just said we mightve stepped over a line what did you go ruin it further for? he deserved to be tied to a pillory and be pelted with rotten tomatoes at the town square.

neo tilted his head upwards slightly and met his gaze. his olive green eyes asked and answered and laughed and cried and mocked and praised. were his own eyes fooling him or were those tears welling in the corners of his eyes? whatever strings still left in telemachus’ heart snapped. scratch that he deserved to be hung drawn and quartered. and thrown to wolves for good measure.

neo's gaze burned holes in his skull. he wanted to look away and wallow in his shame but he didn’t. after a long searing silence, neo finally asked, voice steady and eyes anything but. “is. is it something people do?” there was something left of his question. telemachus waited. shopping and deadlines and life itself be damned nothing mattered more than this. he had all the time in the world for neo. and if he didn’t have it he would create it. rip it from the fabric of space itself if he had to. it was truly the least he could do. the least neo deserved after everything.

“is it something… people do?” he repeated. Telemachus knew then that was the best he could manage. he understood, more than neo thought he did. more than he himself thought he did. his hand was slightly more confident now, tucking a limp wave of hair behind neos ear, tracing the path all the way to his jaw. cradling his face, he whispered.

“it can be yeah. doesn’t have to mean anything though I guess.” neos eyes chased telemachus' own but he avoided them, instead opting to study the freckles on neo's nose.”I thought it might be a nice change for you”. he said it so quietly. maybe if he was small enough it would cancel out whatever hurt he mightve caused. would he respond? what if he didn’t? would he ignore him? would a rift now grow between them? did he lose yet another a loved one to his stupidity? would the sting of his failures ever leave him? he finally dared to meet neos gaze.

“i would like that. I think”

telemachus managed a small smile.

--

leaning on the handle of the trolley and feet mostly off the ground, telemachus floated between the aisles, stopping only to redirect it and avoid colliding into the barriers. he eventually stood up properly having reached the hair care section. telemachus’ lips pressed into a thin line as he realised neo actually had a great point. there were a million kinds and colours and the dread was starting to settle. suddenly the easiest task in the world was bordering the overwhelming.

don’t be stupid its literally just shampoo. get over yourself. the little voice in his head never missed a beat. 'can we be a little nicer next time?' he asked himself, a hint of frustration lacing his internal stream of thoughts. absolutely not. he scowled. oh and also youre ugly and no one loves you. telemachus deadpanned. 'why thank you. any more gems for me?'. the disembodied voice grinned wickedly and telemachus instantly regretted asking. the last thing he needed was for his mind to casually drop the most devastating disturbing discombobulating truths on his still weeping sores.

he cleared his throat so violently to block out his own thoughts a nearby employee hurried over, probably thinking he was choking. he felt instantly guilty for making them worry. especially since he may or may not have overdone it; giving himself an actual coughing fit in public wasn’t his idea of fun. you think? came the cool remark. telemachus rolled his eyes at himself. He was very over this conversation.

a quick scan of the shelves for products specifically labeled curly (he had only ever seen neos real hair in a picture from primary. he looked adorable with several missing teeth) gave him a place to start. sighing, he picked up the first of quite limited options available. still better than nothing he supposed. at least its not dish soap, the voice quipped. telemachus smirked in agreement.

--

telemachus, seasoned overthinker that he was, tended to overlook certain aspects of his schemes. he practiced and he rehearsed, yet there was always something missing, even when he was quite certain he'd taken every last thing into account.

no sooner than he had turned the key he realised he had no idea what to expect. he hadnt thought this far, he hadnt prepared an internal script to practice, or at least go over every potential scenario with, he definately didnt walk the entire way home thinking about the frog documentary he and neo watched last night.

neo.

would he be asleep? awake? willing? or rather still willing to go through with their quiet promise this morning. had he eaten? was he alright? did he still love him? had he ever loved him? they never exchanged the infamous words but they both knew it. In their heart of hearts. right?

tele turned the key a second time and opened the door. prolonged pin drop silence never bothered either of them, but what with his current stream of unwarranted worries tele's stomach sank. was he upset with him? he remembered neos tears this morning and nearly felt like walking outside and throwing up in their recently acquired praying lily's plant pot

he pulled himself together and put his best foot forward (and nearly tripped in typical tele fashion). mumbling a little hello to nobody in particular.

the living room was 2 steps away from the door, open to their little kitchen gaving it the illusion of a bigger space. the light that poured from the windows certainly aided in that. it was nice and cosy and perfect. what was more it was home. and it was theirs.

after emptying the shopping bags and putting mostly everything away, he was only left with a pair of pokemon toothbrushes (listen they were on sale. no other reason) and the shampoo he brought that had to go to the bathroom. The bathroom with the bathtub. where neo probably was. their bathrooms bathtub.

tele had no idea why he was dreading whatever was to come. except he was lying, he knew exactly what was bothering him but it didnt resolve anything, much less untie the knots in his stomach. he cursed his stupid brain for ditching him for tadpoles.

the bathroom door was open a fraction. thats new. "neo?" a gentle rap of his knuckles on the white door of a wood his dad would probably know the name of echoed in the bathroom. silence

too quiet? maybe another one for good measure. tele raised his hand a second time when he heard a very faint hum. a question? ah.

"neo?" silence again. "can i come in?" another hum, firmer this time, an answer. he opened the door softly so that it wouldnt creak (to be added to the list of things to do before theyre old and grey) and disrupt the suffocating silence.

he was briefly surprised to find neo facing him in the bathtub, back to the taps, knees drawn to his chest, arms folded on the edge and head resting on his shoulder. his eyes were closed, and if it werent for his hums just now hedve thought he was asleep.

It did make sense actually, having his back to the water made it easier to wash. clever. though uncomfortable probably. he hummed again urging him to get over with. hes not talking.

he had the entire (debatable) thing planned out but it all went flying out the window. rather he threw it out the window to make room for a new wave of questions. what if he didnt fancy listening to him yap endlessly about whatever was on his mind? should he still narrate? would the noise bother him? should he ask or would it backfire?

neoptolemus opened an eye and telemachus instantly felt like following his plans suit out of the window. he was looking for reasons to feel guilty at this point and it was starting to get ridiculous. he was aware of the absurdity of his thoughts sometimes but his guts wouldnt budge.

neo bless his heart probably prepared more than his dumbass did (tele mentally winced at his own delicate choice of words) and gave him a fierce look that nearly stopped telemachus' heart. because everyone knows the best way to distract someone from downward spiralling into oblivion was to give them a cardiac arrest. first aid 101.

hed be lying if he said it wasnt extremely effective.

telemachus let the tension leave his shoulders and the air out of his lungs when he sighed in defeat. It would never not baffle him how much stress his muscles held and just how different his entire being felt after letting go. he felt like a wet newspaper. oh what he wouldnt give to lie down on the cool tile floor and pass away already. "uh, radio on or off?" cha cha real smooth.

neo snorted and tele allowed himself a victory smirk. "any requests?"

"just shut up" tele couldnt help but grin.

"sir yes sir". eyes closed again, neo missed the mock salute. he probably would have ignored him anyway. to anyone else his reply would seem harsh and rude, but telemachus knew better. neo knew how tele sometimes drowned under the currents of his own thoughts and doubts. he had stressed enough already. he needed to start telling his brain to shut up more when it went on hypothetical tangents of tangents.

tele opened the window and let some of the warmth inside but kept the door slightly open so the echo-iness didnt grate on their ears. the water ran and broke the now comfortable silence that threatened to lull them both to sleep. he sat on the cool tiled floor, a hip against the tub and legs folded by his side, and got to work.

tele was clumsily careful with the water, making sure the roots had drank enough before continuing with the length of neos hair. at one point he fixed the shower head in place and used a wide toothed comb to loosely section the hair. then came the sweet smelling stuff.

hed picked purely based on what hed thought (hoped) neo would like the most, possibly sacrificing the better option for his hair type. which in his defence was wasnt easy to tell, since part of the damage reflected on how it looked. hm. hypocrite. he tossed his head aside as if to knock over the last thought and busied himself with massaging the paradisical coconut into his scalp. It smelled like a dream, and if neos discreet sniffs and soft sigh were anything to go by he seemed to approve of his choice. tele was feeling quite proud of himself.

now all he had to do was make sure neo never attempted to eat the shampoo.

at long last, and after the final rinse they were done. tele stood up and stretched his legs and let out a heaving sigh. the kind that came after a job well done. he could only hope neo felt as peaceful as he did. and with less back pain. hands stretching above his head he looked over his shoulder back to neo to admire his handiwork.

he looked like hed actually fallen asleep this time. like a little cat curled up in the sink. with a little smile telemachus quietly put everything away and made sure to leave a towels and clothes within his arms reach. slightly closing the door on his way out tele wondered if he did actually sleep. should he check? and risk disturbing his rest? well since the alternative was literally catching pneumonia, he countered, id try my luck convincing neo to rest in bed at least. but how?

walking back in, hands on his hips and mind absent in thought, telemachus flinched when neo suddenly broke the silence. “quit your staring.”

once again his facial expressions beat his usually quick tongue in reaction. “I was not.” he insisted feebly, neck warming up at the scandalous accusation. he really wasn’t, but how like neo to make everything about himself. sometimes telemachus sort of wished his thoughts could be heard, or at least shared between them, so that neo could hear the fond exasperation in his voice whenever he spoke about him.

neo snorted and tele threw a towel on his head in retaliation since he wouldn’t see his stuck out tongue, and closed the door behind him with a soft click. he had far better things to do than spend another second with his idiot.

‘your?’ he allowed himself another small smile as the warmth of his neck reached his ears. mine, he promised.

[rainstarri]

silly post-it-note doodles

[zirkkun]

hazuki is a wild character (at least to me) in the sense that he was in literally only 2 scenes, one of which very short, and he feels so insanely important to the plot in a way where i desperately want to write about him but we have so very little info that i feel as though i am scraping up bread crumbs that are crushed into the earth for a semblance of something to work with

[couldtheybekira]

[m4rzthescenekid]

GUYS WHAT??

Thank you all sososo much for the love on my Sam birthday thing 😭😭🫶🫶

Heres some doodles before I take actually good photos to post here 🧍🧍

my children (Damien, Farley, and my petey 🧍)

K baiii tysm again chat

[therealamperssand]

to people, especially trans people, who claim neopronouns are dumb:

have you never found a word that you just loved? you saw it and thought "this is me"?

because if you haven't... I feel sad for you

[starmagnets]

spent way too long editing this but anyways i got my agents on the brain again.

[x-heesy]

„𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚁𝚘𝚊𝚍“

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚊 𝚍𝚘𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍, 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞. -𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚢 𝙷𝚊𝚕𝚎

𝙳𝚛𝚞𝚐𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙲𝚑𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚜 𝚋𝚢 𝚂𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚘

@decemberthenemesis @bixlasagna @invincible-selfxmade-punk @bigbonzo @inbetweenneeds

[mossedmonkey]

Sticky note #1!

[fanboyistransboy]

I think about this show Daily and I have to share with you my favorite Neo Yokio clip

anyone else remember the jaden smith big toblerone anime

[patchwork-crow-writes]

Holy WOW.

Like, you think you know how badly Kris's life sucks. Divorced parents, brother off to college, no friends, some strange higher power hijacking their body and going off on adventures without them... but hey, at least they're able to take some control back from us sometimes! At least they can go off and eat all the pie in peace! At least they can open a dark fountain in their home so they can spend more time with their cool friend Susie! Yay! I'm sure they're just leaving the door open for the cops to get in so they can save the day!

And then. AND THEN. Chapter 4... happens. And everything we thought we knew about Kris crumbles to dust before our very eyes.

Those snatched moments from the player? They weren't the triumphant grasp at freedom we thought, but another, yet more insidious layer of control that has been exerted upon them. Because for the end of Chapter 3 to have happened, a few things had to be prepared - the TV had to be plugged in, Susie had to come over, the tires had to be slashed so the police would be called, and the door had to be left open so that the Knight could gain entry - not the police, but The Roaring Knight. The Enemy.

And make no mistake - they didn't want to do ANY of it. Drinking in the Holidays' kitchen... the way their head turns whenever Susie or Noelle mentions them... Carol's ice-cold hand on their shoulder ("in the shadow of the Knight's hand")... do any of these things indicate Kris as a willing co-conspirator? Or rather, a child who has fallen into the clutches of a very manipulative - and very real - authority figure, who is being groomed and coerced into performing dangerous acts that threaten the lives of not just their friends, but their family, their town, and quite possibly the whole world?

We knew that Kris Dreemurr's life sucked before this. But we could never have anticipated just how badly it sucked, just how little control and agency they truly have, in any aspect of their life. This situation has been going on for MUCH longer than we've been around - you can tell that much from the birdcage. Their situation is so utterly, catastrophically FUCKED that death seems the most preferable outcome for them.

Remember Susie noting how Kris responds to Queen's offer to "Perish" with enthusiasm?

Remember the way they crumple onto the floor when Spamton NEO is about to kill them and take their SOUL, not even attempting to fight back?

Remember them whispering in Susie's ear in "the_newest_girl_girl"?

...yeah. It's THAT bad.

And you have to wonder... if we were never shunted into Kris's body... if we didn't literally FORCE Kris to move, to go to the dark world, to Fight and Spare enemies - to FORCE them to play at being a hero, in spite of their situation... What would have happened?

Would Kris even be alive now, if not for us?

[cryinggirlnamedhelen]

isagi yoichi was the love of your life.

he made you laugh. he always seemed to know exactly what to say at the right time. he wasn’t particularly assertive, but he didn’t let himself get tossed around either. he was always smiling. he never judged based on appearance. he always made you feel safe. your heart was kept safely in the palm of his hands, always and eternally kept from being broken ever again.

that was until he left for blue lock.

he had changed. he was no longer soft spoken and kind. he no longer knew how to keep your heart safe anymore, and yet he still kept it, never giving it back. he was closed off. he only cared about soccer now. you had finally decided that if he wasn’t going to return your heart, then you won’t use it anymore.

isagi yoichi was the loss of your life.

you were his, but he wasn’t yours. it was only temporary, and yet you expected for it to last forever. only the savoring taste of cotton candy in your mouth before it unnoticeably melts away rapidly and permanently. you both never technically broke up, only that eventually, after around a month or so into the neo egoist league, he slowly stopped texting you. you realized quickly that he must be too busy to have a lover now, and so you called it off in your mind, not wanting to bother him with a text of breaking it off.

eventually, you went to college. you bought a new phone and got a new number. you claimed to have moved on from that fact that you practically dumped a world famous soccer player, and yet, whenever your roommates had a soccer match with isagi in it on, you always caught your eyes drifting to the tv, despite your constant remarks about not being interested in soccer. your eyes couldn’t help but soften whenever isagi smiled at scoring a goal; it was reflex already.

you missed him.

you missed your yocchan, the one who you met on the playground at age 4, the one who you always had to do homework for because he constantly forgot, the one who always told you how pretty you were with a grin, the one that always held your hands in his to warm them up on a cold winter day. you wanted him back. you wanted your yocchan back.

but it would be too late now, right?

how wrong you were.

playing for bastard münchen in germany filled isagi’s schedule hastily. soccer practice, 3 meals, fan meets, and a scarce amount of free time that he uses to learn german. learning german was the worst part; he knew that he could just use those language translating earbuds, but he wanted to at least make an effort for his fans. but the difficulty with german wasn’t the best part.

isagi had asked yukimiya to hide his phone somewhere so that he wouldn’t get distracted from training. he was going to text you a quick note, but was distracted by noa speaking to him. after finishing their conversation, yukimiya had already took isagi’s phone, so isagi had no time. he decided to tell you after the neo egoist league, hoping that you’d understand. but when he texted you again, you didn’t respond.

and the time he texted you again the next day.

and the time he texted you again the day after that

and the time he texted you again after that.

and again.

and again.

until he finally came to the conclusion that you must have thought that you both broke up. but when he tried looking for you, you were nowhere to be found. he had missed the entirety of his 3rd year of high school for soccer the the u20 world cup, but that also meant missing you for a whole year. he couldn’t move on; he didn’t know how. you were the stabilizer in his life, the one who he loved. the one who he always thought of.

and now he couldn’t even contact you.

but his worries will soon end.

clutching the ticket in the palm of your hand, you wondered if you should even be here. but you already flew to a whole other country just for this, so it’s way too late to back out now. your eyes wandered to the massive stadium towering over you, taking yet another breath before stepping in. your roommate had gotten herself tickets to the bastard münchen versus manshine city match, but then she realized that she had school that day, and that she couldn’t go. she reluctantly gave her tickets to you instead.

meaning that you would see isagi in person again today.

okay, okay, maybe he won’t see you. maybe if he does, he’ll just ignore you. maybe he won’t care. hell, maybe he’s moved on already and is dating someone else. you made your way to your seat, knees bending to slowly drop to the seat. you waited for the match to start, and when the two teams came out, you tried not to search for the familiar patch of dark blue hair. key word: tried.

indigo hair suddenly clouded your vision, and isagi was there. right. fucking. there. your ex-best friend. your ex-lover. your ex-everything. suddenly, your chest tightened, and a lump formed in your throat, your eyes stinging. he’s grown just a little bit, and yet he looked so much more mature. you knew that you should relax: he was even your boyfriend anymore. and yet you still couldn’t help but feel heavy when the loss of your life is right there.

isagi scans the crowd, indigo eyes wandering side to side. he expects for himself to just see the same cheering people as usual, there to hype him up, but not this time. his jaw goes slack, and glimmering sapphires under the brightest of sun and stars seem to replace his navy eyes.

it’s you.

you’re beautiful. you’ve matured. you grew out your hair. your cheeks glowed pink in the cold winter air. fog escaped your lips when you exhaled. and you were looking right at him. isagi stays like that for a few moments, his eyes only looking at you, before kurona pulls him away from his schoolboy crush looks.

you hoped that you would never have to experience that again. was he still in love with you? you never thought of that; you thought he’d be secretly dating some idol or something. but the look in his eyes when he stared at you suggested differently from what your original thought process told you. after the match, you hurried out, begging that you’ll be able to exit the stadium quickly.

maybe isagi yoichi was the love of your life after all.

[hannyoontify]

SOOO CUTE WTF

❖ all mother nature's fault // joshua hong

joshua x gn!reader, 1.9k+ words

tags: non-idol au, fluff, established relationship, crack, me furthering my 'joshua hong has erratic hay fever' hc, kinda sick fic

warnings: mentions of medicine ??

notes: good lord,,, sick!shua is just so pathetic (fond)

“Joshua? Shua, are you there?” 

You step into Joshua and Jeonghan’s shared apartment, humming a little to yourself as you take off your sunglasses, the spare keys that Joshua had given you dangling in your hands.

It’s a delightfully sunny day, and you’re dressed all nicely, fully sun-screened and ready to go out. Joshua had asked you yesterday if you wanted to go on a walk in the park today, and you’d never say no to spending a sunny, lovely day out with your boyfriend.

But at 11am, Joshua hadn’t appeared on your doorstep, so you’ve come looking for him in his own home.

“Joshua?” you call again, padding through the apartment to stop at his bedroom, knocking on his door. “Are you in here? Can I come in?”

“The door’s open,” a voice says, and you open the door to see Jeonghan sitting on the bed, holding a box of tissues next to a sprawled-out Joshua.

“Oh, Jeonghan?” you say in surprise. “Why are you here?”

Jeonghan raises an eyebrow. “I live here, too,” he says, sounding put-out.

You laugh, closing the door behind you. “You don’t live here in Joshua’s room, though,” you say, but Jeonghan just waves a hand like that little fact is irrelevant.

“I can live anywhere I want. I pay half the rent for this place.” He looks down at Joshua, and grins. “Unfortunately, the other rent payer is a little… incapacitated right now.”

And he’s right. ‘Incapacitated’ is probably the right way to describe Joshua’s state, because he’s pathetically lying spread-eagled on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, head propped up with multiple pillows. He’s still in his pyjamas. In the few minutes that you’ve been in his room, you’ve seen him take at least three tissues from Jeonghan to blow his nose.

“I’m sick,” Joshua says, and he sounds all bunged up. “No, I’m not sick. I’m going to die. I’m dying.”

You can’t help but laugh a little at how dramatically miserable he’s being, sitting next to him on the bed. “Is it your hay fever?”

“Of course it’s my hay fever,” Joshua laments, and then sniffs loudly. He turns his head, looking at you through puffed-up eyes, before sniffing again. “I can feel all the pollen particles attacking my body right now.”

“That bad, huh?” you say, pushing his hair back from his forehead. Joshua stares hazily at you. “It shouldn’t be this terrible, though. It’s been raining for the past week.”

Joshua whines, flopping around on the bed like a child. “I don’t even know. But I keep—keep—ah—” He sneezes then, mid-sentence, covering his mouth with his hand, and then promptly reaches for a tissue to wipe his hand and his nose. “Keep sneezing.”

You hum, trying not to laugh aloud at his misfortune. You exchange amused grins with Jeonghan. Your boyfriend is the only person you know who gets hayfever, and what makes it worse is that it’s the most random hayfever you’ve ever seen.

He could take you for a date to a flower field in the middle of summer and not have his eyes water at all, but during one random week in the middle of autumn, he’ll be sneezing so hard that he could blow over a jenga tower.

That happened, once. It’s the only time you’ve ever seen Seungcheol genuinely cry with laughter.

“My poor darling Shua,” you coo, trying not to smile too hard at the memories whilst Joshua looks so pathetically sad next to you. His eyes are all puffed up, and he looks so miserable and it’s actually a little adorable.

“I know, your poor darling Shua,” Joshua says miserably, his words coming out all distorted due to his blocked nose. 

“Poor Jeonghan, too,” Jeonghan cuts in. “He called me over just so I could hold the tissue box for him.” He lightly bonks Joshua on the head with the tissues. “Meanie.”

“I’m the one actually dying here,” Joshua says, and wow, he really does sound ill. “I feel terrible. I feel like one of those hanahaki victims in those fics you keep sending me.”

“You can’t compare yourself to my hanahaki recommendations if you laughed at the fics for an entire five minutes after I send them to you,” Jeonghan says, stabbing a finger in Joshua’s direction.

“Well, they’re always totally unrealistic! And why are you even reading fanfiction about that sort of stuff?”

“Hey, they’re good stories!” Jeonghan says, holding his hands up defensively. It makes him lift the tissue box into the air just as Joshua was about to take one, prompting your boyfriend to whine as he stretches fruitlessly. “And the genre only ever comes up in fanfiction. I love hanahaki stories.”

“He loves reading about other people’s pain,” Joshua says in your direction, and he forcefully yanks Jeonghan’s arm downwards so he can take a tissue. Holding it up to his nose, his voice is muffled as he says, “That’s why he’s here right now. To laugh at my pain.”

“You brought me here to laugh at your pain.” Jeonghan hits him over the head with the tissue box once again.

“I brought you here to comfort me,” Joshua cries as loudly as he can, which isn’t very loud, because his voice is all croaky. “You’ve just been laughing at me the whole time!”

“Should have known that I would do that. How many years have we known each other, Shua? Do you really still not know your best friend at all?”

“Apparently not,” Joshua grumbles, sniffing. “Next time you’re sick, I’m going to destroy all the tissues in your house.”

You’re practically crying with laughter, listening to the two bickering, and this is something that is always the funniest to watch. Jeonghan and Joshua bounce off each other so well, both having equal sass and equal wit to be able to do this, though one might not think so when meeting them for the first time.

Joshua’s just always too busy holding up his gentleman image to properly rip into Jeonghan.

“Gonna destroy all your tissues and then ban you from ever buying any more,” Joshua is still threatening, poking at Jeonghan with his snot-covered tissue. “You little monster. I hate you.”

“You’re the one cursing at me?” Jeonghan says, incredulous. “How am I the monster here? Y/N! Do you think I’m the monster here?”

You’re giggling into your hand, trying not to be too loud, and when Jeonghan directs the question at you, you startle and let out another surprised laugh. “Um… I don’t know.”

“You have to side with me,” Joshua insists croakily at you, snatching the tissue box from Jeonghan so he can get his own tissues. “Y/N, please? I’m literally your boyfriend.” 

He smiles weakly at you, then, in an attempt to gain your favour, and even though his eyes are all red and his nose is still leaking you can’t help but think that he looks utterly, utterly adorable.

That’s not gonna stop you from messing with him, though.

You shake your head, smiling. “Yeah, but you ditched me on what was supposed to be our date today, so I don’t know if I should side with you.”

Joshua’s eyes widen as best as they can, betrayed, and Jeonghan cackles.

“You’re so mean,” Joshua mumbles, dabbing at his nose, and then kicks Jeonghan when the man won’t shut up. “Hey, stop laughing! It’s not that funny.” He looks at you again, and if possible, he looks even more miserable. “I can’t believe you’d betray me like that.”

That makes you laugh, and you reach over to pet his hair consolingly. “I’ll tell you what. You let me take care of you today, and I’ll agree with you that Jeonghan’s the one in the wrong here.”

Joshua blinks, like he’s processing your words, before nodding. “Deal.” He looks over at Jeonghan, and kicks him again. “You heard Y/N. Get out.”

“Excuse me?” Jeonghan gasps in mock offence as Joshua continues prodding him with his toes. “How dare you!”

“I’m not your boyfriend, so you don’t have to take care of me anymore,” Joshua said, and then he grinned up at you, all watery-eyed but still devastatingly adoring. “Y/N’s here now.” You smile down at him, and he seems to positively light up under your gaze.

And then he sneezes.

“Okay, okay, I’ll go,” Jeonghan says, as Joshua starts going through some sort of sneezing fit. “Goodness me, you’re even pulling out the sneezing attack in an attempt to get rid of me.”

You laugh, shuffling closer to your boyfriend and taking the tissue box from Jeonghan, handing Joshua tissue after tissue and helping him prop himself up so he doesn’t choke on his own gasps for air. “Sorry, Jeonghan, we just really want you gone.”

“I’ll remember this,” Jeonghan says, pretending to be all upset even as he practically lunges for the door. “I’ll remember this act of treachery!”

And then, with a neat click of the door, he’s gone.

The room becomes quieter, then, and Joshua’s sneezes die down into little sniffles. You place more pillows behind him, helping him sit up, patting his hair affectionately as he attempts to take in a deep breath. You weren’t joking when you said that you’d take care of him, and he seems to notice it, eyeing you over the tissues that he’s blowing his nose with.

“I’ve already taken antihistamines,” he says, as if preempting your question. “This is me all already drugged up.”

You chuckle, pinching his cheek. Taking the dirty tissues from him, you deposit them into the bin beside his bed. “Wow. Your hay fever is really bad today,” you say, and he snuggles into your side with a long-suffering sigh.

“Yeah. It really is.”

There’s silence for a moment, as Joshua miserably tries to breathe and you run your fingers through his hair.

And then Joshua sits up a little, looking at you.

“Sorry for not being able to take you out on that walk today,” he apologises, eyes big and wet and sincere. You just smile pinching his reddened cheek and pressing a kiss to his forehead. 

“I’m not actually mad. You know that, right?”

Joshua shrugs. “Still. I feel like I should say sorry.”

“Hey, it’s not your fault,” you say easily. “It’s the weather’s fault. It’s ‘cause of all that pollen that you’re in this state right now.”

“Hm. You’re right.” A grave look comes over him as he nods, eyes darting up to you. “Will you fight the weather for my honour, Y/N?”

That makes you laugh, surprised. “Your honour?”

“My honour is totally destroyed right now,” he says, dead serious. “Baby, I’ve been defeated by tiny little flower particles! I definitely think that you should fight for my honour.”

He’s being so serious about this that you can't help but laugh, leaning down to kiss his cheek even though he protests that he’s all sticky and disgusting right now. But it’s Joshua, so you peck him on the cheek anyway, and then kiss his hair.

“Sure,” you say, and when he looks at you again, your eyes sparkle brighter than a thousand suns. “I’ll fight Mother Nature for your honour, Shua.”

He beams. “I love you.”

“I love you too, baby.”

A beat.

“Quick question… how do you feel about going on walks in the rain from now on?”

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